Crooked Pitch

This was a slow week for great pickups. Most of the players moving up in percent owned are not worth pickups or minor leaguers with a possible call-up. As always I will try to supply one from each of the following positions at my weekly review here on Crooked Pitch (C, CI, MI, OF, SP and RP) I will include there current availability which may have changed since my initial review.

C - None - I suggested Ryan Doumit this week, but his ownership is at 73% now so he is likely gone by now. If he is still available he is a great backup and good enough to be a starter. If you have a 2 catcher league then he is a must own. My guess he is rostered now in most active leagues though. He also has OF eligibility, but he is not a great play there.

CI - Eric Chavez - As I said when I reviewed him: Just don’t expect him to last very long. He seems to be able to come back from these injuries OK and has been playing well since his return. That included his first homer on Friday. If you need a fill in or some power out of your 3B you can use Chavez until he surely gets hurt again. He is the Mark Prior of 3B.

He is only owned in 35% of CBS leagues.

MI - Yuniesky Betancourt - Unlike my previous MI pickups Betancourt has little pop and little speed. He will get a few homers and a few steals, but never enough to be a full time fantasy player. His average is strong though and he and get a few counting stats so he is a good backup in leagues with a larger bench.

He is only owned in 43% of CBS leagues.

OF - Alexei Ramirez - He is still working toward a full time roll, but the starts are coming. He has shown 20 homer potential in Cuba. If he can control the starting job he is a must pickup and I would put in a claim now. He has 2B, SS and OF eligibility so you can work him all around your lineup as you need him.

He is only owned in 36% of CBS leagues.

SP - Manny Parra - He had another good game since my review which gives him 4 out of 5. He is starting to look like the pitcher many expected this season. He is not quite the talent of a Gallardo, but should getting picked up for most leagues. He should at the least get strong K numbers for you.

He is owned in 52% of leagues.

RP - Mike Gonzalez - How fluid is the closer position. I could write a reliever pickup almost every week for Atlanta alone. Gonzalez is on his minor league rehab and showing no problems so far. Soriano is already taking days off for his elbow. The team can not seem to find the problem with Soriano and will be quick o move to Gonzalez if he can prove his health. He is a K per inning pitcher so expect him to do well again.

He is only owned in 5% as of this morning on CBS.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 1:06 am and is filed under Fantasy Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.